NATO May Be Out of Afghanistan Sooner than Thought

From The Fogg Of War:

Afghan President Karzai is starting to become war-weary--as is his populace. His re-election is coming up, and he's starting to become emboldened about his sovereignty thanks in large part due to the negotiations between the US and Iraq in Baghdad. Karzai has asked for a timeline for foreign troop withdrawal--but interestingly, he asked the UN Security Council Delegation, not NATO.

Karzai's frustration is understandable. NATO Counter-Insurgency (COIN) operations are often heavy-handed and humiliating for Afghan citizens, most of whom are much more pro-government than many of the folks in Iraq. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), much of southern Afghanistan remains in control of the Taliban. As the Army COIN manual states, the more force that is used in COIN operations, the less effective the force is.

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My Comment: A good analysis on the situation from Fogg of War. I personally would love to see our boys get out of Afghanistan ASAP, but realistically they will not be coming home soon. Afghanistan is a failed state, and as much as many of us would love to leave it alone, realistically .... we all know that the Taliban and Al Qaeda would only come back to dominate a major portion of the country again.

And we all know what happened when they were permitted to do that the last time.